Weird and wonderful
by Emma-face
Summary: Hodges finally works up the courage to ask Wendy out but it doesn't go at all how he thought...A crazy multi ship fic, not for the faint hearted lol  Some ships include HodgesWendy, HodgesEcklie, Jacklie, SuperNick and...well you'll see!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is a collection of some of the strangest ships within the walls of the CSI lab. I will admit that it is a rather twisted creation...rather twisted and let's face it rather unplausable but those of you with a sense of humour as sick as mine might just get a kick out of it. If you're not into crazy/unbelieveable/same sex ships then i would not advise reading this.

**Thanks to: **I want to thank UnalovesU2 over at for sharing my crazy vision and not having me commited

I hope you all enjoy

* * *

She breezed past his lab like a fresh summer wind, her dark her flowing behind her as she moved. She had the face of an angel but he was more than willing to bet that behind those chocolate brown eyes was the twisted mind of a devil.

_'A devil woman! Yeah, that's what she is! The way she tempts me and teases me!' _She was fiery and fearless; she spoke to him in a way that none of the other lab rats would ever dare to. She infuriates him. He loathes her. She intrigues him. He craves her!

Ever since their last confrontation over the miniature killer fiasco he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her. It was consuming him. _'Look at the way she walks around, like she owns the place!' _He'd swore to himself a long time ago that he was done with women, he'd been burnt a few times too many but still he couldn't help but be entirely fascinated with that feisty DNA technician Wendy Simms.

But he wasn't going to just sit about watching her from afar and teasing her whenever she did speak to him; no, that was the old Hodges. This new Hodges wasn't afraid of being rejected by this woman because he wasn't going to be rejected. The new Hodges was smooth and suave; the new Hodges was the man who found the newest break in the miniature killer case. And the new Hodges was going to ask Wendy out for a drink after work.

He repeated his motivational speech to himself as he walked through the lab with purposeful strides. Approaching her DNA lab, however, he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of her as she walked out the door. _'Come on now Hodge__s__! Be a man!' _Shaking off his fear he followed her as she made her way to the locker room. This was perfect, she'd be cornered.

He waited a few minutes outside the door before he entered with a definite swagger in his step.

"Hey Hodges." She hardly even looked up from her locker as she buttoned her clean blouse. Her bare abdomen being somewhat revealed to him caused him to be momentarily distracted from his cause.

"Simms!" He greeted her shortly out of habit before correcting himself. "Wendy." He even smiled. It was kind of creeping her out actually.

"Something up?" She asked him after he'd been staring at her for a few minutes, not saying a word, just that weird smile on his face.

"Up? No!" He shook his head, trying his hardest to look cool although it seemed his efforts were in vain. Why wasn't it working for him? He'd seen Nick do it a thousand times, it didn't seem that hard. Shaking himself from his thoughts he returned to the task at hand, clearing his throat he spat out the question before it escaped him again. "I was just wondering... if maybe you would care to join me for a drink after shift?"

There he'd said it!

"Oh!" Was he asking her out? Now? After she'd spent countless months waiting for him to get the hint and ask her out, he waited until she had given up and moved on to ask her out. She had moved on; really she really thought she had, but now she couldn't help but wish that she could go. Just to see what might be or what might have been, if she hadn't moved on. She frowned and sighed.

_'That's not a good sign!' _Hodges braced himself. His face had already fallen as he anticipated the rejection. For a moment she almost considered cancelling her plans; but she couldn't do that.

"I'd love to Hodges. Believe me I'd really love to, it's just...I kind of already have plans for tonight!" She explained disheartened.

Well it wasn't a complete rejection; he'd take it. He smiled at her again, a less creepy smile this time. "Some other time then?" He asked.

"Definitely!" She replied, hoping there would be a next time; it had taken him this long to ask her out once God knows how long it'll take for it to happen again. "I really am sorry David!" She reached up and stroked his cheek.

_'She called me David!' _He smiled inside.

As the shared that small moment of intimacy in the middle of the locker room, neither of them noticed the door opening and another person entering the room. When they did notice Wendy quickly removed her hand from Hodges' face as Mandy walked towards them. _'Does she look jealous?' _Hodges thought to himself, his ego celebrating the fact that now Mandy wanted a piece of him as well. His ego was quickly stunned into silence when the somewhat jealous looking Mandy walked over and planted a possessive kiss on Wendy's cheek.

"You ready to go?" She asked, eyeing Hodges suspiciously as his jaw dropped to the floor.

"Yeah!" Wendy lifted her bag and closed her locker door while Mandy waited for her.

"We can talk later Hodges?" She asked, giving him puppy dog eyes. He couldn't resist.

"Yeah sure." He forced another smile as he watched the two women leave. _'Devil woman!' _He cursed her under her breath for making him feel this way. His evening was now empty and he was angry as well. He kicked himself for not asking her out sooner. He'd been a coward and now he had missed his chance with Wendy, and he's lost out to Mandy of all people!

He shook his head as he stormed out of the locker room. He knew exactly where he was going although he wasn't entirely sure why he was going there or what he thought would happen when he got there. Because as solemnly as he had sworn off women, he had made an even strong, bigger vow never to go back down this road again.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Just a reminder that I do not own CSI or any of its characters all I own is this crazy idea...I would also like to point out that I am not responsible for any mental damaged caused by this fic! Enjoy!

* * *

"Ahem!"

Judy sighed in annoyance at the person standing in front of her desk, clearing their throat in order to get her attention, tearing her away from the letter she was typing up. Looking from her computer screen to the phantom cougher she only became more annoyed. Standing in front of her wearing a sickening smile was none other than Conrad Ecklie. _'Great! Just __the last person in the world I want to see__.' _She thought bitterly.

"Yes?" She raised her eyebrows at him. _'I swear if he wasn't the lab director I would...'_

"Judy!" He forced out in a cheery voice; it made her feel ill. "How are you?" He asked. If anyone else had heard Conrad Ecklie sincerely enquire into the wellbeing of another human being they would have considered it one of the signs of the apocalypse. Although Judy knew different, she knew he could be truly nice when he wanted to be, she just really wasn't in the mood for him right now.

"Busy!" She answered him shortly before returning her attention to the computer screen.

_'What's wrong with her? Must be stressed. Good thing I'm here to make her day a lot better.__' _Ecklie thought to himself. "Yes...yes...I can see that..." He trailed. "Well I suppose you'd like something to take your mind off it then. How about we go out for dinner when your shift is over?" He propositioned her.

_'Is he serious? Seriously stupid maybe! How does he not get that I am mad at him?' _She sighed heavily again. Looking back at him from the half written letter on screen, he was still smiling at her and his eyebrows were raised so high up his forehead it looked as though they were about to slip onto his bald scalp. His obliviousness irritated her more.

"No thanks Conrad I don't really feel like going out for dinner." She replied with as much venom in her voice as she could muster. _'Oh boy, she seems mad!__'_ It finally sunk in with him that he was in trouble and he didn't know why; he didn't want to be in the dog house, he liked Judy, he had enjoyed their previous dates and was intent on having another. His only problem was that he spent so much of his time being a heartless bastard that he almost forgot how to be a nice person.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Yes!" She said firmly, amazed that he had actually caught on to the fact.

"Why?" He asked, his face looking the image of true confusion.

She could no longer control herself; she had to tell him off. A lot of people in the lab feared Conrad Ecklie, before their dates Judy had been one of them but not anymore. After spending time alone with him outside work she knew he wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be, in fact she thought he was rather misunderstood in the office. However none of that changes the fact that she was majorly angry with him.

"Because Conrad you made me a promise and you broke it!" She explained, unable to stop the emotion spilling into her voice.

"What?" He asked her. _'What promise did I make?' _

"Oh you know very well what I'm talking about Conrad! Gil and Sara! You promised me you would leave them alone! You promised me!" Judy had to use all her self control to stop herself from screaming at the clueless man in front of her.

"I...uh..." He tried to explain; suddenly remembering the promise and the moment he had broken it when he called Grissom and Sara into his office to tell them they would be working over their booked holidays because the lab was short staffed. _'Oh no! I've fucked up big time!' _

"Save it Conrad! I don't want to hear it! I told you to lay off them. They are the only people in this whole damn lab that talk to me like I'm a human being. I told you this and you made me a promise. A promise that you then proceeded to break and with it you broke my trust in you." She spat her words at him. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down she spoke again. "I'm sorry Conrad, but I have a lot of work to do and I really don't want to speak with you right now so if you would please excuse me." She said more calmly and firmly, her eyes again returning to the computer.

Ecklie opened his mouth to say something but then decided against it, instead he chose to storm away from her desk down the hall towards his office.

_'Where does she get off speaking like that to me? I'm the director of this lab! People fear me! And she speaks to me like that' His_ mind raced as he stomped. _'You know you're only upset because you upset her. She gets to you! You've found that one person who you don't want to upset. You're in more trouble than you realise buddy' _Another part of his mind answered back.

He didn't know what to do. All he knew is that he'd been rejected and his evening plans were ruined. And he was majorly pissed off as well! As he reached his office, at a loss over what to do, a new opportunity presented itself when he opened the door and stepped inside. An opportunity that he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about but an opportunity all the same.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Again I would like to point out that I do not own CSI or any of it's characters...yet! plots Oh and as always I am not to be held responsible for any mental or emotional damage that you may suffer as a result of reading this. It's not my problem!

* * *

'_Well there he is! What now genius?' _Hodges thought to himself when Ecklie walked through the door. He hadn't exactly thought his plan through, he had been blinded by rage and rejection when he had decided to come here so he never really gave much thought as to what would happen once he met Ecklie. 

"What can I do for you David?" Ecklie asked in one of his nicer tones. He still wasn't sure how to approach this situation. Things between himself and David still ran a little high at times, he hadn't heard from him in months and now he was standing in his office. _'What's going on here?' _He wondered.

"I...uh...I...was just...uh," Hodges' eyes nervously darted around the room, "I was just wondering what time your shift ended at." He finally finished his sentence. He waited, uncertain of what kind of response to expect and by the looks of things Ecklie was uncertain of what kind of response to give. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally spoke. _'I'm not going to let my evening be ruined.' _

"Whenever I want it to." He smiled at the man in his office, enjoying the perks of his job title.

_'You've gone this far...' _A voice came from somewhere inside Hodges' head. "What are you doing afterwards?" He asked; trying to find some of the confidence he had felt when he was talking to Wendy and ignore the other voice that was screaming at him for being an idiot.

"Nothing, what did you have in mind?" Ecklie replied, he didn't know what was going on with Hodges but he was willing to go along with it; at least he knew Hodges wouldn't reject him, or yell at him.

"Uh...I don't know." He never thought Ecklie would agree. "Maybe we could go out for a drink of something?"

"Sounds good," Smiled Ecklie, "I just have a few things to tidy up here so I'll meet you in the parking lot in 10 minutes." He wasn't so much asking as he was instructing. Nodding in agreement Hodges quickly turned on his heels and left the office.

_'W__hat the hell are you thinking?' _He had vowed he would never go near Conrad Ecklie again, not after the way he treated him like a lap dog; taking advantage of him, using him as an unwitting mole in the lab, manipulating him and making him think he actually cared. _'I know you're mad, but really it's better to be alone!' _That voice he had been trying to ignore was now screaming louder than ever as he made his way to the locker room.

But it was too late to back out now, regardless of how strongly he wanted to, he couldn't. He had to see where this was going. That always was his downfall, he always wondered what if. Closing his locker he headed towards the car park somewhat reluctantly.

* * *

_"You've one new message." _

Beep.

"Hey SuperDave! Uhh...it's...uhh...it's Nick here. I was just wondering if we could meet up, to talk. Please meet me at 7 at the old bar...you remember the one. Thanks!"

Blinking a few times as he tried to make sense of the voicemail message David closed his phone. _'What the hell?'_

Meet Nick at the bar? He hadn't been to that bar in years; not since he'd gotten engaged anyway. He knew he probably shouldn't go; he made a point in his life to never go back, it was his personal philosophy that reliving the past never does much good, but there was just something about Nick Stokes that always pulled him in and something in his voice in the message that drew David's attention. He had sounded almost pained, he was normally so smooth but in the message his Texan drawl was laced with a kind of sadness. Maybe it was his hero complex coming into play, but something about the voice made David want to meet Nick, to go back to the old bar, even just to make sure he was ok.

Sitting in the passenger seat of the car he made a quick phone call home to tell his wife he would be late and for her not to worry. When he hung up the phone he started the engine and headed towards the old bar all the while wondering what was going on.

* * *

Five minutes after Hodges had left the building Ecklie sauntered out of the lab with his car keys in hand.

"I'll drive!" His sentence sounded more like a command than a statement; Ecklie always had to be in control. Hodges nodded slightly and obligingly climbed into the passenger seat. He was way past second thoughts now, these were more like ninth or tenth thoughts he was having.

"The usual place then?" Ecklie asked, removing his eyes from the road only briefly to look at the man travelling beside him.

_'As if you would ever have the nerve to be seen anywhere else in my company__.' _Hodges thought to himself bitterly. "The 8 ball it is." He agreed, his eyes fixed out the window at passing cars and trees and his mind drifted back to thoughts of Wendy.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence until they pulled into the parking lot if the 8 ball bar. It was a seedy kind of place; the neon sign over the door that didn't work properly most of the time and the inside was dank and dimly lit. It wasn't the most pleasant of places but it was somewhere they were unlikely to run into anyone they knew and that was more important to Ecklie than the décor.

They walked awkwardly into the bar and ordered drinks; now was not the time for beer, they needed proper hard liquor so both men ordered a double scotch. The awkward silence from the car returned as the downed their drinks and ordered more. They were a few rounds in before Conrad broke the silence.

"So what made you come to my office today David?" He asked, his ego was quietly purring inside his mind that it was because Hodges missed him, and was miserably without him.

"Honestly Conrad? I really don't know!" Hodges answered sounding dismayed, not that Ecklie picked up on it. "Why did you agree to come out with me?" He questioned.

"I knew you wouldn't yell at me for taking away the Grissom's precious holiday time!" Ecklie spat viciously, the alcohol was clearly starting to affect him. Hodges was quick to pick up on this. His ears pricked up and he pressed on with further questions.

"No, of course I wouldn't yell at you for that Conrad!" You catch more flies with honey... "Who did yell at you?"

"Judy!" He sneered angrily.

_'Judy? Well, well isn't that new?' _Hodges made a note of this new gossip. "She yelled at you?" He faked shock.

"Yes!" Slurred Ecklie in complete disbelief. "She said that they were nice to her and I promised her something or other! Can you believe that?" He was now swaying slightly in his seat. He reached his hand over and placed it on Hodges' thigh. "But you don't care, you don't want promises, you just want me! All you want is my attention 'cause you love me David!" He smiled a disgustingly self-assured smile at Hodges.

_'Uhh...NO!' _Hodges couldn't believe what he was hearing. Love Ecklie, he didn't think it was humanly possible. Maybe at one stage he had been infatuated with the lab director, but it was more his power that Hodges was attracted to than his looks or personality. _'I've heard enough! I've had enough! How could I have been so stupid? I'd rather be lonely and hold out in the hope Wendy will fall for me than ever, EVER go near Conrad Ecklie again!' _David came to his senses. He was leaving; Ecklie was so drunk now he probably wouldn't notice.

Getting off his seat dramatically Hodges stormed off towards the door, he was so wrapped up in his suddenly clear thoughts that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and he bumped into a woman as he made his exit.

"I am so sorry Miss!" He apologised to the woman as he helped her up from the floor.

"No really it was my fault." She also apologised as they drew to eye level. Seeing the face of the man she had bumped into she was pleasantly surprised. "David!" She smiled.

"Wendy?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **You know the deal I don't own CSI or the characters just my twisted brain and the ideas that come from it.

Also for the purposes of this chapter I've pretty much reffered to SuperDave as Dave and Hodges as David when necessary, just to sort of differentiate between the two. Oh and since I couldn't find out her real name I decided that Mrs SuperDave's name is Claire.

* * *

There it was "The 8 all ba" it's broken down neon sign serving to highlight just how dingy this dive of a bar was. Taking a deep breath Dave stepped out of his car, looking around he noticed there were more cars in the parking lot than he ever remembered though he highly doubted that the places' standards or their clientele had improved. Still, even with its dodgy signage and the creeps who frequented it, the 8 ball bar held some happy memories for him; but those times had long since past.

Walking through the door a part of David was asking himself what he was doing back here, telling him that he should be at home with Claire having dinner or watching television or something; his doubts, however, seemed silenced when he caught sight of the man who had invited him here. Never before in all the years he had known him had Dave ever seen Nick like this. He was slumped pathetically over his beer though he wasn't drunk he just looked as though he didn't have it in him to hold himself upright, his hair was a mess and he looked heartbroken; actually he just looked broken.

"Hey." Dave approached him cautiously, still wondering what exactly Nick was looking from him.

"Hey SuperDave." Nick sighed; even his voice didn't have that usual charm to it. "Thanks for coming man! You look...you look good." He forced a smile. "Being married seems to agree with you."

A part of Dave relaxed at these words; at least Nick was recognising the fact that he was married now. "So...uhh...what's up?" Dave asked nervously. "In your message, you sounded kind of...upset or hurt or something? What happened?"

Nick looked away and took another gulp of his beer. Even in the dim light of the bar Dave could see that his eyes were slightly teary. Minutes of silence passed and Nick still didn't answer and Dave was starting to feel uncomfortable. Shifting restlessly in his seat he pushed Nick to talk.

"You said you wanted to talk? About what? Because you're not really talking here Nick."

"You always understood me Dave...you always got me." Nick shook his head. Still feeling uncomfortable Dave looked away.

"And you know...I thought he did too!" Nick forced a laugh. "But no...No he doesn't understand me at all." His words were full of bitterness. When he looked at David the sadness in his eyes was accompanied by a flash of anger.

"How could he think that I was going to leave him? And for a woman? I guess you just don't know people do you?" It seemed Nick was talking to himself now.

"I'm sorry Nick, but who are we talking about here?" Dave asked.

"Greg! I'm talking about Greg...we had a fight. A damn big fight." Nick answered somewhat timidly, no one knew about him and Greg – they had decided to keep it out of the lab for as long as possible. Dave gasped, he had kind of suspected there was something between the pair but he was still shocked at hearing it, more than that he was shocked at the tiny pain he felt at the news.

"Why did you call me?" Dave had to know.

"I don't really know, we have a history man, you understand me you know how I am. I just figured I could depend on you, I mean I hoped you'd be here for me." Nick reached out and touched Dave's face and he looked deep into his eyes as if he were about to lean in to kiss him; Dave pulled back.

"That's true I am here for you, but I'm married Nick you have to remember that. I love my wife. I don't know what to tell you Nick except that you should go home, go to Greg and try and fix this. I see the way you two get on in the lab; I know he understands you and I can tell just by looking at you that you really love him. Nicky you're a mess! Go home and try to fix this." Dave stood up. "Come on I'll give you a ride back, we can talk about what you're going to say to Greg." He gave him a smile, hoping he had not hurt him. Nick looked down at the floor for a moment then brought his head up and looked at Dave.

"Thanks SuperDave." He said softly with a smile.

* * *

"Wh...What are you doing here?" Hodges managed so stutter, he'd been completely caught off guard when he realised the woman he had bumped into was Wendy Simms. _'Confidence remember! This is clearly fate Hodges!' _

"I mean, I thought you were going out with Mandy." He tried to seem cool.

"I am...was?" She shook her head and laughed a little. "She's over there trying it on with that waitress." Wendy rolled her eyes and gestured towards the bar where Mandy was shamelessly flirting with a small brunette waitress. Hodges laughed slightly with relief.

"Oh...I thought...It seemed...when you guys left I thought you two were...together." He looked at her questioningly. She gazed up at him with her big brown eyes and gave him a bright smile.

"Nah! We're not together, just friends...I'm not...interested shall we say. She just gets a bit possessive and knows you can be a bit of an ass sometimes." Wendy never was one to hold her tongue. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Coming to my senses, thankfully." He mumbled to himself.

"What?" She cocked her head to one side trying to make him out over the din.

"Oh I came here with a friend but he got wasted and I was leaving because, well he's not much fun when he's passed out on the bar." She laughed. He made her laugh; a voice inside his head celebrated while on the surface he tried to keep looking cool.

"Well..." Wendy looked over her shoulder to see Mandy had the waitress engaged in flirty conversation. "It looks as if we've both lost our dates." She smiled a glimmer of suggestion danced in her eyes. "Maybe we could keep each other company?"

"I'd like that very much." Hodges smiled, trying to sound as smooth as possible. _'Ok here's your chance, take it!' _The voice inside his head was now screaming. He took a deep breath and quirking an eyebrow at her he smiled and made his move.

"You know, it's not that late. We could probably still catch a late movie if you're interested." He suggested, hoping desperately that she would say yes.

"Yeah, that would be nice." She smiled and he melted. "Maybe afterwards we could go out for that drink you suggested earlier too!" She raised her eyebrows at him.

_'Did she really just say that? Does she mean...?' _

"Come on then David, or we'll miss the movie!" She said; taking his hand in hers as if it was the simplest and most natural thing in the world, however it rendered him incapable of coherent thought. She pulled him towards the exit, waving at Mandy and her waitress as they passed.

"Hey is that...Ecklie?" Wendy's faced twisted in half amusement, half confusion as she pointed towards the drunk hunched over the bar fast asleep. Hodges laughed out loud and shrugged.

"Looks a lot like him doesn't it!" This night was turning out to be a lot better than he first thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Yeah yeah yeah I'm sure you get it already I do not own anything except my imagination, but I hear that anything can happen so I'll keep my hopes up! _

* * *

_

_'Ok Ecklie, suck it up! You know what has to be done.' _He knew exactly what he had to do, he had to make it up to her, he just really didn't like what he would have to do to win her back. It needed to be done though; he knew that, he'd been absolutely miserable the past week without her. He missed the way she used to smile at him when he entered the building, he didn't get a lot of smiles around the lab but one smile from her was worth hundreds from other, less important people. He also missed hearing her voice on his answering machine or the special trips she would make to his office under the guise of delivering an important message. They had only been seeing each other for a little over a month but somehow Ecklie had managed to fall for Judy's unknown charm.

He let out a low growl before slapping on a very forced smile and stepping into the hallway. Grissom and Sara were walking past talking in depth about something relating to the case they were working on, something Ecklie really didn't care about.

"Grissom...s! Could I have a word with you in my office? Please?" He turned back into his office, leaving the door open for them to follow him.

Grissom and Sara both looked at each other, confusion written on both their faces; what did Ecklie want with them now? And had he just used the word 'please'? They had to see what this was about; it was bound to be good.

They entered the office closing the door behind them and took their seats in the chairs facing Ecklie.

"What can we do for you Conrad? Would you like to know when we're planning to take more time off so you can think of reasons in advance as to why we can't have it off?" He asked curtly, he was evidently still bitter about having to cancel his holiday.

"Actually that's kind of why I called you in here. I'm...I..." He was choking on the words. _'I can't do this!' _He thought but another voice inside his head reminded him of why he was doing this, for Judy, and he found it in himself to go through with it.

"I would like to apologise for forcing you to cancel your second honeymoon, especially after the unfortunate way in which your first honeymoon was cut short." That had been his fault too. "I rearranged the swing shift and called in some people who owed the lab some overtime and well, long story short, you two can have you time off." He spoke so fast they could just about make him out, it was as if the words were burning his mouth.

"Are you being serious?" Grissom looked both confused and suspicious. Sara remained silent beside him, just like Grissom had instructed her a few months ago. His exact words were, "From now on let me deal with Ecklie. You just sit there and try hard not to speak, don't even look at him for too long!" Her fiery temper and intolerance for Conrad Ecklie had landed her in a lot of trouble before and Grissom was afraid it could ruin things for them, now they were married there wasn't much Ecklie could do officially but he could make their lives hell if he wanted to.

"Yes Grissom." Ecklie bit his tongue and kept reminding himself that Judy was worth this. "I realised that the way I have treated you in the past has been...unfair and I hope this gesture makes it up to you in some small way."

_'What the hell is wrong with Ecklie? Did he get his soul back from the devil? Maybe he's been abducted into some sort of religious cult or something? Who cares he's giving you your honeymoon back just take it and run!' _Grissom took his own advice.

"Yes...well thank you Ecklie." He said hastily getting up and moving towards the door. He waited for Sara to do the same but she didn't move. She remained in her seat for a moment studying Ecklie.

_'Oh God Sara please no! Don't say anything! Don't ruin this.' _Grissom was screaming inside his head. After a moment she moved to stand up.

"Thank you!" She managed to sound polite when she said it, her eyes still fixed on Ecklie. He looked up and met her gaze.

"No problem."

Once outside Ecklie's office Sara snapped back to reality.

"Did that really just happen?" She asked Grissom in great confusion.

"I think so." He replied still unsure himself. "What the hell has gotten into him? He was being almost...nice!" Grissom mused. Sara shrugged.

"What does it matter? Let's go home and start planning that second honeymoon!" She smiled at him and he took her hand as they passed the front desk and walked out the front doors.

Judy's ears pricked up and her heart leapt as she watched the couple leave the building. They had been talking about their second honeymoon. Did that mean...?

_'Has he? No!__ There's no way.__ He'll never change. Will he?'_

Deciding the only way to find out would be to ask Judy wrote something down on a post it note and informed the others that she was off to deliver an urgent message to Ecklie. She knew none of them would challenge her on that; they were all too busy thinking "Rather her than me!" Her fake message in hand Judy made her way down the hallway, a woman on a mission, to Ecklie's office.

-

_Knock, knock. _

"Come in!" Ecklie called from his desk. "Ju...Judy! Hi!" Ecklie beamed, completely unable to hide his joy over seeing her in his office.

"Is what I just heard true Conrad?" She asked him out rightly.

_'Oh crap! What has she heard? What have I done now?' _

"Well that would depend on what you have heard."

"Alright then, have you really given the Grissoms their holiday time back?" She still stood in the doorway, waiting until she had heard his answer before she either moved further into or left his office.

"Well...uh...yes it's true!" He nodded, secretly hoping that the whole lab wouldn't find out about his generosity.

"Why?" She asked, hoping he would say it was all for her. He avoided her eyes, looking at the floor, at the items decorating his walls, out the window of his office; anywhere but into her sweet eyes as he said what he had to say.

"I don't know...I felt...bad. I felt horrible for breaking my promise to you, for making you mad at me, I actually never felt that bad before and I really didn't like it. So I called in some people who were behind on overtime and gave the Grissoms back their holiday. I guess I was trying to make it up to you, to them and more than anything I was hoping it would show you that I'm sorry and then maybe you would think about forgiving me." His words spilled out quickly; this was the closest to open and honest that Conrad Ecklie had ever been with another human being and he was, of course, terrified by it.

Judy swayed in the doorway for a second before walking over to Ecklie and wrapping her arms around him. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me!" She placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I forgive you Conrad!"

_'Wooohoooo!!!!!!!' _Every inch of Ecklie's body was celebrating, tingling from Judy's kiss. He felt immense relief in the knowledge that she could be his again.

"Well in that case, how about that dinner we talked about the other day?" He quirked an eyebrow at her and gave her his best smile. She smiled back at him and agreed. They shared another kiss in his office before Judy said she had to return to her desk, to avoid suspicion.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, did you have a message for me?" He asked noticing the post-it note in her hand.

"No!" She shrugged, showing him the blank page before throwing it in the bin. They laughed; it felt nice that she was back to making fake visits to his office again.

* * *

Alone in his lab Greg noted how quiet it felt without the usual rock music blaring from his CD player.

_'Too bad you knocked it over and broke it isn't it?' _Greg had been dancing around the empty lab a few days ago and he had bumped into the desk and knocked the CD player to the floor where it shattered into pieces. He completely planned on getting a new one, but that would require having some time on his hands that was not filled by sleeping or working in the lab.

_'Stupid days techie and his suspected appendicitis!' _Greg cursed the man responsible for his abundant over time.

"It's too quiet in here!" Greg grumbled to himself as he stared into the microscope unable to concentrate without blaring music in the background. No longer able to deal with the silence Greg resorted to singing to himself as he worked. Before he knew it he was rolling around the DNA lab on his swivel chair belting out his favourite song.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a beautiful singing voice Greggo?" Nick teased the young lab rat.

"Actually yes, my boyfriend tells me all the time." Greg smiled and poked his tongue out at his lover.

"It's nice that you lie to each other." Nick laughed. "Seriously though, the sooner you get a new CD player in here the better. I think it's best if you save your vocal talents for my private performances in the shower." Nick winked. They were still enjoying the blissful period that always comes over a relationship after a big fight.

"So what do you say there rock star, got my results ready?"

Greg playfully punched Nick in the arm for teasing him; Nick returned the gesture by giving Greg a shove that moved his chair a good 2 feet. Jumping out of his chair Greg tackled his partner, though he was unable to move him much more than a few inches. They were still playfully shoving each other when a heavy sigh from the doorway caused them to break apart quickly.

"Please! Not you two too!" Mandy whined in the doorway. "I swear you can go nowhere in this lab without bumping into smug, smiley happy couples. It's revolting. First of all I have Wendy making eyes at Hodges in the trace lab, all day long, now you two are wrestling in here and you know? I could have sworn I saw Ecklie making out with Judy in his office when I walked by. It's disgusting, really!" She gave an exasperated sigh and turned her nose up.

"Aw now come on Mandy. You know you're just jealous because you're new girl doesn't work in the lab." Nick drawled.

"True." Mandy agreed with a guilty smile. "But watching Hodges and Wendy make kissy faces at each other still makes me feel kind of ill regardless of where Cathy works." She laughed.

"So Hodges and Wendy really having eye sex in the lab?" Greg asked, his eyebrows rising with intrigue.

"Totally!" Sighed Mandy. A few moments silence passed between them.

"Wanna go spy on 'em?" Greg asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah let's do it." Nick jumped from the ledge he'd been leaning on and the three of them snuck down the hallway to gawk at the unsuspecting pair.


End file.
